| roposal to establish three new prisons, says Jakhrani |
| Tuesday, 10 June 2008 | |
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The Sindh government has proposed the establishing of new prisons in the province to ease the burden on the existing prisons, which are grossly overcrowded. As a part of this effort, it has been proposed that three more prisons be established within Karachi or in its surrounding vicinities. Also as a part of prison reforms, it has been suggested that the per-day meal cost of prisoners be raised from a paltry Rs24 to Rs150. This was stated by Gul Muhammad Khan Jakhrani, adviser to Chief Minister Sindh for Prisons, while talking to The News at his office on Monday. He said that the government was planning to set up a prison at Gagghar Phatak, and one at Hub Chowki, and added that another prison would be set up at the spare land of Landhi Prison. Only ‘dangerous’ prisoners, he said, would be kept in this newly-planned prison in Landhi. Giving details regarding the overcrowding of prisons in the province, Jakhrani said that the total number of prisoners in Sindh was around 20,000, whereas the existing prisons could cater to only 9,000 inmates. Delving further into the matter, the advisor said that the number of prisoners in Karachi was 6,000 while the capacity of prisons was less a quarter of that number – around 1,400. “In this context, the construction work on Ghotki Prison has already been completed up to 90 per cent and work on the prison in Naushero Feroz has been completed up to 95 per cent,” Jakhrani claimed. He further stated that the work on Thatta Prison was at its initial stages and a prison in Mirpurkhas was also being setup.Pointing out that about 80 per cent of all prisoners were under-trial, he said that speedy trials would also decrease the number of inmates. He said that one of the reasons behind the huge number of under-trial prisoners was that the court police was being engaged to cater to VIP movement. “It has been decided now that court police would be under the supervision of the Jail Department,” he said. “We have also suggested Rs150 for each prisoner as meal charges in a day which is currently Rs24 per prisoner,” he said. Jakhrani said that he had also banned the use of bar-fetters (Danda Berai) in prisons, which, he felt, was one of the worst methods of torturing inmates. He also said that he had suggested some plans for women’s prisons. “There are many women prisoners who live in jails with their children. Sometimes, they even give birth to children in prisons and these children cannot be separated from their mothers. As such, children have no means of regular studies at the prisons. Now, regular schools will also be established for these children,” he said. In addition, he said that the government had also planned to install a Public Call Office (PCO) at each jail where prisoners could talk to their families on phone. Currently, he conceded, the jail manual from the British Era was in use across the country, which needed a great number of reforms. He said that, as part of jail reforms, he had visited Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Dadu and Larkana and Central Prison Karachi (CPK), while visits to Sukkur, Khairpur, Shikarur and Jacobabad prisons were in the pipeline. He said that, in this regard, a seminar would soon be held in which journalists, politicians, jails officials and some NGOs would also be invited. Observers, he said, would soon witness better, neater and cleaner environments at prisons after the implementation of effective reforms. |
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